A Victoria writer has co-authored a grunge memoir with Steve Turner, guitarist for Seattle band Mudhoney.
Adem Tepedelen and Turner collaborated to write Mud Ride: A Messy Trip Through the Grunge Explosion, which was released Tuesday (June 13).
“Steve was very easy to work with,” Tepedelen said. “He has been one of the architects of the Seattle sound and grunge. He’s a very interesting and personable guy.”
Mud Ride tells the story of the birth and growth of the Seattle grunge scene and features a foreword by Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard and over 100 illustrations and photos.
“It was an easy ask to get Stone to do that,” Tepedelen said. “You can see Stone’s love for Steve in the foreward. He was happy to provide that for us. Steve has been friends with Stone since they were teenagers. They went to high school together. They formed Green River, their first real band together. They are best friends.”
Tepedelen is a freelance music journalist and had previously written another book titled Brewtal Truth Guide to Extreme Beers.
“I’ve been writing about music since I was in high school,” Tepedelen added. “It’s something that I was always very passionate about. I kind of incorporated music in Brewtal Truth Guide to Extreme Beers as well.”
Tepedelen reached out to Turner during the COVID-19 pandemic to see if he wanted to work together on the project.
“Luckily he was receptive and interested in writing a book,” Tepedelen said. “Then we began our working relationship via Zoom. That was really our only option because he lives in Portland. It was really enlightening and interesting to have these meetings with him. I didn’t really know him previously.”
In the memoir, Turner tells stories of how Green River and Mudhoney went from playing underground shows to selling out stadiums with Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
“Green River was the band that kind of spawned Mudhoney and Pearl Jam,” Tepedelen said. “It was fun to talk to Steve about his life and experiences.”
Tepedelen especially enjoyed collaborating with Turner because he’s a huge fan of Green River and Mudhoney’s music.
“Hearing about their first band practices and early gigs really gave me the sense of how and why this musical scene developed,” Tepedelen said. “Steve is a really talented musician and songwriter. I love his approach to music. It was really cool to hear Steve’s great stories.”
Several iconic grunge bands have played in Victoria, including Nirvana, Mudhoney and Mookie Blaylock (a precursor to Pearl Jam).
“Many Seattle bands recognize that there was a good market here,” Tepedelen said. “There are great fans of the music. People turn out for the shows here. Victoria has always had a very lively music scene.”
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